Garment



Nov. 15, 1938. E. w. NELSON 2,136,393

GARMENT Filed March 20, 1957 Patented Nov. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES GARMENT,

Elias W. Nelson,

Belmont, Mass, assignor to H. B. Glover Company, Dubuque, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application March 20,

' 4 Claims.

I This invention relates to hooded garments of the type in which the hood is split part way down the middle and arranged to be closed over the head with a hookless or slide fastener, whereby the hood when-opened will lie flat and may be folded against the inside or outside of the'back of the garment.

Garments of this kind have invariably been constructed with a special view to, mere accommodation of the hood when the same is not in use and is folded down. In some garments, the

hood under those conditions was actually in the way and created sales resistance by reason of its awkwardness or unsightliness under those conditions; It is, therefore, the principal ob-- ject of my invention to provide a garment having a hood of new and improved design, one which is split down the middle all the way to the neck so that the two halves are adapted when folded to serve as a muffler or vestee. In other words, the aim is to provide a three-purpose garment wherein the hood portion may be folded inside against the back in a concealed out-of-theway position to give added warmth on the back, or may be used in the regular way as a hood over the head when the fastener is run out its full length, and, when the fastener is run back all the way, the two halves of the hood serve as a mufiier.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hooded garment made in accordance Withmy invention, showing the hood with the fastener run out all the way to close the same over the wearer's head;

Fig. 2 is a view looking at the inside of the coat showing the hood with the fastener run back half way so that the hood lies fiat against the back, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are two fragmentary perspective views along the lines of Figure 1 but showing the hood with the fastener run all the way back, and the hood halves folded and extended around the neck as a vestee in Fig. 3, and more closely around the neck as a muffler in Fig. 4.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

The invention is herein illustrated as applied to a mackinaw coat 5, but it is obvious that it may be used in connection with a full length overcoat, as well as on other styles of garments for cold weather wear, as, for example, one-piece ski garments, which in smaller sizes are sometimes referred to as snow suits. The hood 6 of my invention may be made of any suitable 1937, Serial No. 131,984

material either to match the material of the gar. ment 5 or give a desired contrasting effect. The kind of materials ordinarily used in the hoods of other hooded garments is suitable for the present invention and when folded to double thickness 5 will afford ample warmth as a vestee or muffler. The hood 6 as here shown is fastened to the inside of the neck 1 of the coat by means of va hookless or slide fastener 8, commonly referred to as a zipper, the purpose being to permit removal of thehood from the garment whenever desired. However, it should be understood that I may providebutton holes in the neck portion of the hood to receive buttons fastened in the neck portion of the coat to provide a detachable connection, or I may provide snap fasteners. Where a permanently attached hood is desired, it will have its neck portion sewed to the coat at the neck. The hood is made in two pieces 9 and ID a which are cut straight at the neck line, as indicated at H, and also straight down the middle of the back to the neck, as at H2. The curved edge I3 is profiled so that when the two halves of the hood are closed edge to edge over the head, a reasonably snug fit is secured and a good appearance also. The other edge I4 of each half is curved and profiled to enclose just enough of the forehead and cheeks for comfort and good appearance. Incidentally, the edges l3 and M meet just below the armpits when the hood is folded flat against the back of the coat, so that there is no interference with entering the arms in the coat sleeves l5.

Hookless or slide fasteners, known as zippers, will also be used between the halves of the hood, as indicated at IS in Figs. 1 and 2. The fastener l6 extends the full length of the straight edges l2 and curved edges I3 previously mentioned, the sliding cam I! being arranged to be run out along 40 the locking members l8 all the way from the neck, as indicated by the dotted line position in Fig. 2, to the outer end of the fastener, as shown in Figure 1. The cam I1 is shown in about its middle or half way position in Fig. 2. The looking members l8 are attached to stringers H] which, in turn, are sewed to the hood on the inside or outside thereof-in this case they are shown sewed to the outside, because it is considered advantageous from the standpoint of avoiding as much likelihood of entanglement of hair in the. zipper, and also from the standpoint of being less conspicuous when the hood halves are folded to form a vestee or mufller, the halves being preferably folded so that the inside is outermost,

which, therefore, throws the zipper between the folds under those conditions.

In operation, when the hood is tobe out of the way and fully concealed, the cam I1 is slid inwardly or outwardly, as the case may be, to the mid position shown in Fig. 2, or thereabouts. Under these conditions, the hood provides an extra covering over the back for additional warmth and, as previously indicated, it does not interfere at all with the convenience of the garment, because it does not obstruct the sleeve openings, but instead is purposely profiled to avoid such obstruction. Conversion of the hood from the form shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Figure 1 requires merely moving the cam I! outwardly all the way, whereas, to convert the hood to the form shown in either Fig. 3 or 1 requires merely sliding the cam I'I back all the way to the neck, whereupon, the hood halves 9 and IE! can be folded outwardly to double thickness for use either as a vestee (Fig. 3) or muffler (Fig. 4). It

is obvious that this convertible hood that can be made into a mufiler in a moment and with such simplicity that any child should have no difficulty in performing the operation, will add a great deal to the salability of a garment of this kind because the prospective purchaser will, at a glance, appreciate the fact that this double or triple purpose hood will make the purchase and carrying of a separate muffier unnecessary. Parents who may have had the experience that their children cannot be induced to wear a mufller for health protection in inclement weather should also be quick to appreciate the advantages of this garment in which the mufiier might be said to be built in so that it will be available at all times and there will accordingly be increased likelihood of the child wearing it and thus gaining the health protection which it might not otherwise have. In conclusion, it will be noticed that a tab 20 on the one half ID at the neck line has snapfastener buttons 2i to cooperate with snap fastener studs 22 on the other half of the hood at the neck line when the hood is closed over the head, as in Figure 1, whereby to keep the hood closed snugly around the face and at the same time afford covering for the front of the neck.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a-good understanding of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. A combination hood and muffler for a garment comprising a flap secured to the neck portion of said garment, said flap being split lengthwise in a direction away from the neck through its approximate middle substantally its full length whereby to provide two independent sections foldable lengthwise to form cooperating halves of a muffler to wrap around the garment wearers neck, and fastener means for detachably securing the adjoining edges of said flap sections together to form a hood enclosure over the garment wearers head.

2. A combination hood, muffler, and double back for a garment comprising a flap secured to the neck portion of said garment so as to be hangable downwardly therefrom against the back of the garment to form a double back, said flap being split lengthwise in a direction away from the neck through its approximate middle substantially its full length whereby to provide two independent sections foldable lengthwise to form cooperating halves of a muffler to wrap around the garment wearers neck, and fastener means for detachably securing any desired length of the adjoining edges of said flap sections together, the flap sections when joined together to an intermediate point of their adjoining edges outwardly from the neck being foldable as a unit flatly against the back of the garment to provide a double back therefor, and when joined together the full length of their adjoining edges forming a hood to enclose the garment wearers head.

3. A combination hood, muffler, and double back for a garment comprising a flap secured to the neck portion of said garment so as to be hangable downwardly therefrom against the back of the garment to form a double back, said flap being split lengthwise in a direction away from the neck through its approximate middle substantially it full length whereby to provide two independent sections foldable lengthwise to form cooperating halves of a mufiier to wrap around the garment wearers neck, cooperating slide fastener means extending in a direction outwardly from the neck the full length of the adjoining edges of said flap sections and thence in arcs in opposite directions along the edge of the sections in opposite directions, and a closing slide member sldably engaging said fastener means and slidable thereon selectively to different positions anywhere from the neck of the garment outwardly to the ends of the curved edges. of the flap sections.

4. A combination hood and mufiier, for a garment comprising a flap secured to the neck portion of said garment, said flap being split lengthwise in adirection away from the neck through its approximate middle substantially its full length whereby to provde two independent sections foldable lengthwise to form cooperating halves of a muffler to wrap around the garment wearerfs neck, cooperating slide fastener means extending in a direction outwardly from the neck the full length of the adjoining edges of said flap sections and thence in arcs in opposite directions along the edges of the sections in opposite directions, and a closing slide member slidably engaging said fastener means and slidable thereon from the neck of the garment outwardly to the ends of the curved edges of the .fiap sections.

ELIAS W. NELSON. 

